Page 70 - November 2015

“They tell you when they can run and when they’re ready, and if you pay attention, they almost talk.”
by John Moorehouse
At Los Alamitos Race Course, the name John Cooper is synonymous with success. Cooper has been training horses at the sunny south- ern California track for more than four decades. He’s one of just four trainers to tally at least 1,300 Quarter Horse wins at Los Alamitos.
Already enshrined into the Idaho Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame, Cooper is still going strong. One of his current runners, Moonist, has dominated at Los Alamitos for the past three
years. The four-year-old gelding, who was the 2014 Champion Three Year Old and Champion-Three- Year-Old Gelding, has posted a total of 11 stakes wins and five this year alone at the California course and is entered in the Champion of Champions.
In addition to Moonist, Cooper has trained four additional Champions: 1988 and 1989 Champion Aged Gelding Chingaderos, that he also bred and owned with his wife Carol; 1979 Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Gelding Mr Doty Bars; 1999 Champion Two-Year-Old Colt, 2000 Champion Three Year Old and Three-Year-Old Colt Separatist; and 2000, 2001 and 2002 Champion Distance Horse Sign Of Lanty.
We had the opportunity to catch up with Cooper and learn more about his life away from the oval in our latest Lighter Side feature.
Q: Where were you born?
A: Pocatello, Idaho.
Q: What hobbies do you have outside of horse racing?
A: I like to fish and hunt. Of course now, at my age, it’s getting tough to do that.
Q: What is your favorite movie, and why?
A: I’ve always been a John Wayne fan and I think I liked “The Shootist” the best of all of them. He went out a champion in my book. I like Westerns, just about above everything.
Q: What’s an interesting fact about your family?
A: My dad worked teams. I guess that’s how I got to liking horses. We always had a horse around. I liked to ride horses, and did. We had one that wasn’t really doing much and he let me try that team. That’s how I really got involved, and I’ve been doing it ever since.
JOHN COOPER
Q: Do you have a nickname and, if so,what is it and how did it come about?
A: They call me Coopy. I guess because it’s short.
I never knew why they did. Didn’t have any idea. That’s my nickname.
Q: What is the strangest personality quirk you have ever seen in a horse?
A: That’s a tough one. I’ve had one that used to suck the sides of his face. It’d drive you crazy, but he’d do that every time you got ready to run. It was kind of crazy. But the good ones, they don’t really have any bad quirks about them. They tell you when they can run and when they’re ready, and if you pay attention, they almost talk. I’ve had some really good ones. Just as far as a quirk, though, that one there just really got to me.
Q: If you were not in the horse racing business, what job would you like to have? A: I used to run heavy equipment. I enjoyed that.
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SPEEDHORSE, November 2015
THE LIGHTER SIDE